A Deadly Woman Returns to the Field in VELVET

May 21, 2014

Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting put a dark new twist on the spy genre

VELVET is the graphic novel that results when Ed Brubaker (FATALE) and Steve Epting, the creative team behind the movie-inspiring smash-hit Captain America: The Winter Soldier, create a comic for themselves — with an original character like few others found on the comics stands. The first volume, VELVET: BEFORE THE LIVING END will be in stores this summer.

In 1973, Velvet Templeton is the executive assistant to the head of a spy agency. She is meticulous, professional, and ultra-competent. But few people know that she’s also the deadliest woman on Earth. Velvet gave up fieldwork years ago, but now she’s being drawn back into the action when one of the agency’s top operatives is killed and the evidence points to her as the killer.

"There's this archetypal secretary who's in a lot of spy movies and novels — the Moneypenny type. It goes through pulp fiction, this Girl Friday idea, and I thought, ‘What if that character was also a Modesty Blaise or Black Widow type? What if that was her secret past?’” said writer Brubaker, who has signed an exclusive deal with Image Comics with artist Sean Phillips, in an interview with USA Today. “It's touching on a lot of the stuff I love about the spy genre that's been in comics, but it's never been in comics that much in America.”

A sexy, subversive action thriller with dark, painterly art by Epting and colors by Elizabeth Breitweiser that is inspired by vintage spy novel cover art, VELVET VOLUME 1: BEFORE THE LIVING END will be in comic book stores on June 18 and bookstores on July 1, and is specially priced at $9.99.

VELVET VOLUME 1 by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting

ISBN 978-1-60706-964-5

128 pages, full color, paperback

$9.99

In comic book stores June 18, in bookstores July 1

Retailers, librarians, and reviewers may request a PDF galley from Jennifer de Guzman, Director of Trade Book Sales, jenniferdeguzman@imagecomics.com

Praise for VELVET:

“[Velvet Templeton is] an intriguing, multi-dimensional character [who] is unlike any other heroine in comic books.”- Oliver Sava, A.V. Club

“... a supremely entertaining and wonderfully written story set in the world of early seventies espionage…. Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting are one of the most important teams in comic book history. Velvet is a book that would bring smiles to the faces of Dashiell Hammett, Ian Fleming and John le Carre.”- Iann Robinson, CraveOnline

“Velvet Templeton is no Bond girl, nor is she a feminized Bond. She is a complicated, conflicted character with an espionage skill set that's gone somewhat rusty with disuse but is no less impressive. Epting's art brings Velvet and her surroundings to life; the combination of his masterful framing and Elizabeth Breitweiser's atmospheric colors lend a cinematic quality to the book's art. The story's visual and textual elements combine to create something truly unique, and Velvet is a series not to be missed.”- Melissa Gray, IGN

“[Velvet Templeton] comes across as immediately likable, trustworthy and competent, with a practical turn of mind and a wry sense of humor. She's a tough and attractive older woman, confident and comfortable in her abilities and in her own skin. It's hard to resist her appeal, and the strength of her personality at this early juncture is a testament to Brubaker and Epting's skills.”- Jennifer Cheng, Comic Book Resources